Originally Santa Claus was just a cartoon used to sell Coca Cola products. But as he became more popular, his lore had to be fleshed out. First we had "Twas the Night Before Christmas" which gave us a lot, including his belly being like a bowl full of jelly. Then we as "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" which added things like the "he sees you when you're sleeping, knows when your awake". However, there are still lot of questions about how Santa operates. And over the years, movies have gone a long way to fill some of those gaps.
Here ae five examples of what I mean.
"How Does Santa Deliver to the Whole World in One Night", Santa Claus:The Movie
This movie is basically an "origin" movie so it makes sense that it would explain some things. The one part I like is when Burgess Meredith's character, "Ancient Elf" I guess, explains that the time continuum breaks down when Santa is in his sleigh and "time moves with you". Meaning that Santa is moving super fast from our point of view. This is something that stuck, it gets mentioned in The Santa Clause and even the much more recent "The Santa Chronicles" used this.
"How Can Santa Be So Old", Ernest Saves Christmas
I have my issues with this movie, but it did give us something that other movies picked up on. That is that when Santa eventually gets to old, he can retire and pass his powers on to the someone else. This makes perfect sense, since it can't really be one person for 2,000 years. And this is seen in many versions right up to Arthur Christmas which expanded the idea so Santa has a family lineage.
"How Does Santa Get Down the Chimney", The Santa Clause
In Santa Clause:The Movie, Santa just kind of transported where he needed to be. But we all know that isn't right, he's supposed to go down the chimney! Well this movie finally explains it. Santa's body morphs so that he can fit down the chimney. And what happens to house's that don't have a fireplace? Simple, one just magically appears. This movie also elaborate on what Ernest showed, like how new Santa's are chosen, sort of, and also shows that the bag is filled magically. Don't ask me how that works when the Elves are shown making the toys.
"How Does Santa's Sleigh Fly", Elf
Ok I gotta be honest, I am not as fond of this one. But according to this movie Santa's sleigh is powered by the belief of people. The more people believe in the magic of Christmas, the more the sleigh can fly. If people don't believe then the sleigh crashes in Central Park. Yeah, as I said not a fan of this one but points for a new idea.
"How Did Santa Get Started", Santa Claus is Comin to Town
I love the Rankin/Bass Santa lore. Even if it doesn't always match up special to special. But of all the attempts to show how Santa got his start, this special is definitely my favorite. I think the reason is, there really isn't any magic in it. Yeah ok they have the Winter Warlock but putting him aside, Kris is just a jolly guy who loves to give and just happens to be an expert toy maker. With Mickey Rooney doing the voice we get one of the best Santa's out there. Some things don't work, like the idea of Santa having a castle and/or workshop is very dated, but it's still one of the my favorite Santa stories.
Santa Claus is a great character and I love reliving his stories every year when Christmas rolls around.
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